Movements with a power reserve of more than one or two days were rather unusual in pocket watches and wristwatches for a long time. Their wearers were accustomed to winding their watches every day. Of course, there have always been exceptions, such as movements with multiple barrels or Hebdomas watches. Another exception is watches that were used when traveling or in cars or airplanes.
These could not always be re-wound promptly. However, they could be built relatively large, which in turn created space for a large mainspring barrel. Here we will now focus on the Octava travel watch pictured above, which dates from around 1915.
It is immediately apparent that the crown of this watch is not located at 12 or 3 o’clock, but at 6 o’clock. This is what the watch looks like in its portable, folding case measuring approximately 10 x 11 cm:
The watch case is held in place by a clamping ring and the screw-down back. The back cover bears a hallmark with the Swiss registration number 24855. We will come back to this number and the fastening mechanism later on. Once the screw-down back and clamping ring have been removed, the case can be taken out and we can take a look inside:
The movement has a diameter of 24´´´ (approx. 54 mm) and a height of 9.5 mm. The wheel train bridge directly indicates the manufacturer, OCTAVA WATCH Co. from Switzerland. The US patent number 816321 can also be found on it. More on that in a moment!
The design of the movement was registered in 1908 by Graizely & Co. of La Chaux-de-Fonds in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce as model no. 1594:
Octava, on the other hand, was registered as a brand name by Graizely in 1907. Graizely is best known in the watch world as the manufacturer of Hebdomas watches!
Before we take a closer look at how the movement works, here is another picture of both sides of the movement. This time in the usual arrangement, with the crown at the top of the picture:
There is a slight difference between the movement registered in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce and the one shown here. The registered movement does not have an opening in the wheel train bridge for the pinion that drives the wheel above the wheel train bridge:
The 8 days movement is based on the above-mentioned US patent 816321. This patent from 1906 did not belong to Graizely, but to František Hartmann and Josef Oliák from Prague, which was then part of Austria-Hungary. Hartmann and Oliák had also obtained patents with the same content in other countries:
- Switzerland CH33103, 1905
- France FR352914, 1905
- Germany DE175275, 1905
- UK GB190505310, 1905
- Austria AT23276, 1906
The following image shows an excerpt from the German patent:
Although the bridge shapes are quite different from those in Graizely’s movement, the central wheel above the bridges and the pinion that drives it (at approximately 5 o’clock in the image) are clearly visible.
So what did Graizely have to do with Hartmann and Oliák? Unfortunately, I don’t know how the three came together, but in April 1907, the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce announced that Graizely had obtained a license from Hartmann and Oliák to use patent CH33103:
Unfortunately, I was unable to find out anything about the history of Hartmann and Oliák. The British patent at least reveals that Hartmann was a watchmaker and Oliák a merchant. Hartmann registered further international patents related to movements, including one for an escapement.
Before we take a look inside the movement, let’s return to the aforementioned number 24855, which can be found on the back cover of the watch. In 1914, Emile Piquerez registered this number in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce for the design of a watch case whose construction corresponds to that of the watch shown here:
Graizely, or Schild & Co., obviously also had a licensing agreement with Piquerez. So why Schild & Co. all of a sudden? Quite simply, Graizely & Co. was dissolved in 1913 and its business activities, including all trademark rights, were taken over by Schild & Co. One of the managing directors of Schild & Co., Otto Schild, was already a partner in Graizely & Co.
The following advertisement from Schild from 1914 promotes the movement shown here and also refers to its origin at Graizely & Co.:
Let’s now take a closer look at the 8 days movement. After removing the hour wheel and the canon pinion on the dial side, the large wheel located on the bridge side above the bridges can be easily removed. Underneath the bridges, it looks like this:
We see what appears to be a classic movement structure, in which thePowerflows from the mainspring barrel via the center wheel, the third wheel, and the fourth (seconds) wheel to the escape wheel. And from there, of course, via the pallet fork to the balance. However, the movement has a few special features:
- The mainspring barrel rotates once every 48 hours. It occupies the entire radius of the movement plate and has an inner diameter of 22.8 mm. Inside is an impressive spring with a height of 3.7 mm and a thickness of 0.28 mm. This ensures sufficient torque and a long running time. However, due to the high torque, it would have been desirable if the movement had been equipped with four additional jewels on the barrel and the second wheel instead of the 15 jewels, in order to prevent the metal bearings from wearing out.
- The second wheel is not a center wheel, although it is located in the center. It does not rotate 360° every 60 minutes, but every 240 minutes. Accordingly, it does not bear a minute hand.
- The third wheel rotates 360° every 15 minutes. The attached pinion, which extends through the opening in the wheel train bridge, then drives the central minute wheel located above the bridge. This wheel is therefore not in direct power flow, but is driven indirectly (seeblue linein the following image).
- Although the fourth (seconds) wheel rotates 360° every 60 seconds, it does not carry a seconds hand. And it lies slightly off the line between the winding stem and the center of the movement.
An indirectly driven minute is rather unusual in 8-day movements. Normally, an auxiliary wheel is inserted in the direct power flow between the barrel and the minute wheel to achieve the required gear ratios. However, this changes the geometry of the movement, i.e., the position of the wheels in relation to each other, and thus usually the diameter. The movement shown here also has an extra wheel, of course, but this does not increase the diameter of the movement, only its height.